2023 Wrap-Up

Hey, folks. Been a while since I actually sat down to do a blog post like this where I just talk about my feelings (disgusting, I know). With 2023 coming to a close, I decided to follow this trend on Twitter where everyone is just posting their top four art pieces of the year or something of that sort. So I scoured through my collection, and made a top four collection of my own:

I'm fully aware it's all Housamo fan art. Not that it's all a big problem, though.

Even though I've been set back from a lot of my personal projects as a result of focusing on nothing but fan art since January, it's been more beneficial to me than anything. I've learned a slew of things I don't think I would have learned otherwise. My art has improved significantly and I couldn't ask for a better outcome than this, really.

Of course there's still more to learn, and that's just part of the whole journey. It's a never-ending cycle of learning down the road... Just the way I like it.

So here's to a full year of art, of continuous learning and constant improvement. 2024 brings new challenges and new knowledge that can be acquired over the horizon. I look forward to the future with optimism, eager to learn all the new things I've yet to discover.

Cheers to 2023, and to the year ahead! 🧃

-Zip

Yuletide Dance (聖夜のダンス)

"A-Are you certain you're alright dancing with a mere maid such as myself...?"

"Relax, Melusine. I'm also actually not that great at dancing, so... I'm counting on you."

---

There's an astonishing lack of Melusine fan art, and I am here today to change that. Her role in the Ikebukuro Christmas event cannot be emphasized enough. I absolutely loved how she was featured in the event. 💕

I think here I was mostly held up with the dress design I made for the MC. I wanted to give her dress a floral motif, but I wanted to stay away from cherry blossoms because it became so overrated to me. That said, I went with chrysanthemum, which, while also predominantly common in Japan, were also symbolic; not only does the white chrysanthemum represent loyalty and honesty--values I hold especially dear--but it also represents death in Japanese culture, which harkens to the cycle of death and rebirth the MC experiences throughout the game's lore.

I wasn't particularly sure with how to tackle the embroidery design along the hem and the seams at first. I even wondered if I should use stitch brushes to make it work. Then I found this incredibly simple looking design, and used it as a reference to draw the embroidery. I may or may not have gotten a little too carried away doodling in the design after the first time.

The next thing I was held up over (though not by too much) was the background. I wanted to move away from incredibly detailed landscapes from the time being and create something more abstract. I particularly wanted to create an out-of-focus background with blurry circle particles, which I later learned was an effect called bokeh. Soon enough, I discovered this video on bokeh brushes, and I easily managed to pull off the background I wanted.

Consider this art piece my Christmas entry this year, guys. Happy holidays and more to come! 🎉🥳🥂

Onsen Horkeu (温泉ホロケウ)

Good god, this art piece of Onsen Horkeu is finally finished!

I was stuck here for a good three weeks pulling my hair out and trying to understand how to make his fur pop out better. It was only thanks to this video that I finally got some sort of guidance, though even with that, I struggled to stay motivated working on this piece.

I finished the original one yesterday, but I had to also do a full overhaul of the background because I felt like I just imitated the one from his Onsen variant. I replaced it with this outdoorsy one instead, all the while keeping the color scheme throughout the piece constant.

The Witch's Flaming Chains (ソルシエールの炎鎖)

Cleaning up after the rest of my Housamo backlog now that Housamotober is over. After the last Arc painting, I decided to go for another, with them wearing Jeanne's armor again. This piece is simply a revamp of a sketch one of my friends made, with her permission of course. Now that's one more off my list! 😄

I don't think I've ever done any paintings featuring someone's back turned to the viewer, apart from some practice sketches I made a long time ago. This was a fun refresher for it (and good practice too, if I might add)! This was easy because Arc has a slim body, but it'll be a whole 'nother ballgame if I went for a more buff character... 😥

Waking (目覚め)

Whew! Finally, after uploading all my Housamotober entries in bulk, I was able to upload this finished Arc painting! 🥳

I started sketching the draft of this painting over a month ago, but I had to put it off because I was doing the Housamotober art challenge. I finally got back into it a few days ago, and while I was worried about not finding it in myself to finish this (as often is the case with other WIPs I've had in the past), I managed to see it through.

I based the design of their bedroom from this painting I made back in February. Although I'm happy with having finished my painting, I'm not too pleased by the lack of detail in the background. I suppose it can't be helped since I don't really view Arc as a messy person who leaves clutter all over their bed. At least their phone screen makes up for the lack of detail, eh? 😋

Halloween Free Space

For my Halloween free space I went for sketching my favorite Housamo characters in various Halloween outfits! Arc's vampire outfit is taken from Halloween Azathoth's art, Melusine is dressed up as a flustered succubus, and Q'ursha... I, uh, couldn't think of anything so I made him wear a mariachi and a burrito costume. 😂🌯

And that wraps up my entries for the Housamotober 2023 art challenge! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to end on time this year and missed the deadline by a day. But it's alright; it's much better than some years of art challenges, at least. 😌 I'm just glad to have managed to finish all my entries this year, though things transpiring IRL have kind of kept me from uploading all of these immediately.

Now that Housamotober is out of the way, I thought of taking a temporary reprieve from making art, but I decided it's best not to. I know I'm only going to end up losing my art groove if I do... And that's the last thing I need right now.

That said, expect more art from me in the coming weeks, and I'll try to dish out as much as I can before the end of the year! 🥳

White Camouflager

The Camouflagers are my favorite Mob units in Housamo. I think they're pretty cute, and they're really powerful as regular Mob units compared to most others. My favorite amongst them would be the white one. He's got that gruff look that I like about him... 🤭

Witch of Orleans

Day 29 was Exception day, and I had long since decided who would be taking this spot. Ra Mu was a cool exception, but Jeanne can't be beat.

Arc (Arcueid)

It wasn't too long ago that I learned of another VN game alled Tsukihime. It's one of those old cult classics, and I had heard of it from time to time but I was never truly interested in it. That is, until I saw a post talking about how similar in appearance Arc was to Arcueid, one of the main characters from said cult classic.

And, well, the resemblance is almost too unreal: blonde hair, red eyes, fierce fighters... Just, their personalities are completely different from one another. I'd say Arcueid is a bit more innocent and klutzy to some extent. Nonetheless, the both of them are really cute, and it was a no-brainer to just have Arc cosplay as Arcueid for Day 28.

Melusine (Christmas)

Melusine deserved that spotlight she had back in Ikebukuro Christmas. God, what I'd do to see more events with her in them. 🙏

Now, if Lifewonders would give her Christmas variant the skill evolution it so desperately needs...

Arc (Summer)

Why would I not feature my favorite enby for swimsuit day? 🥰 Though, I won't lie; I only remembered I planned on doing Melusine for this day until after the fact... 😅

Ziz

Thank Lifewonders for their Sunshine Christmas re-run, because without it, I would have never realized just how much I truly appreciate Ziz's existence. Her special quest was just... 😩👌

Vow of Binding

I'd say AR day was when I felt extra flustered and panicky about getting through my Housamotober entries ASAP. All the other ARs felt like a pain to do quick reinditions of, so I went for my favorite Vow AR to just get it all over and done with.

Arc (Valentine's)

Day 23 was Event day. I was also starting to rush through my backlog for Housamotober around this time, so I just went for a quick sketch of Arc confessing to the MC at the Shinjuku Academy rooftop during Valentine Fantasy.

Tadatomo

Day 22 was Hakkenshi day. And, well. Tadatomo is honestly the only one that genuinely interests me among the Hakkenshi. I'm quite a sucker for the loyal types, you see.

There's Masanori as well, I think he's a bit cute, but his actions in the Main Quest leave me feeling rather... Iffy.

Astaroth

There are a lot of unaffiliated characters in Housamo, and quite a few of them I like... But I decided to go for Astaroth since he's up there amongst my unaffiliated favorites.

Looking at this now it's bordering a bit on uncanny valley...

Beowulf

I remember the pain of trying to pull for Beowulf back in Chapter 14's main banner... But he never came home. Thankfully, that all changed during the F-Kare 2 banner. 😌

At some point, I'm definitely going to have to make some fan art of him, in full color and rendered. Just... Not right now. 😅

Q'ursha

There's been a running gag going along in r/Housamo's Discord server where Q'ursha is fond of snacking on burritos after a related doodle I made of him doing just that. Honestly, ever since then I make a reference to just that whenever I make content of him. 🌯 It's canon; at least, in my headcanon AU, it is. 😋

Enigma

Oh, I particularly enjoyed sketching Enigma for Day 18. There is not enough art of this reverse digital Beartic out there, and I was more than willing to provide the necessary crumbs for the cause. 😌

Taishakuten

Personally, I'm very highly uninterested in the Gurus. No one in particular has really gotten my attention, other than Taishakuten, I suppose. But even then, I don't really find anyone in the guild all too interesting to me.

Loki

Ah, Loki. Back in Chapter 14's main quest banner, you were truly desperate to assert your existence in my pulls in my search for Beowulf... So much so that your Sacred Artifact reached a whopping level 61. Dear god. I'm just grateful that your kit is actually rather powerful.

Oz

Day 15 had Rule Makers for its theme... And I hate that guild with a passion. Though for the sake of getting an entry in, I went with the only character from that guild that hasn't pissed me off. Genuinely hoping Oz and Zo will be allies when Chapter 15 drops.

Wakan Tanka ∞

Wakan Tanka ∞ was one of those units I didn't really like until much later. I remember his banner coming out the first time in late 2022, and I got his 5* when I did a multi-pull. I just thought, Oh hey, this is pretty sweet. I didn't really get into the game until a few months after that, and when I played through the re-release of Chapter 13, I just had a newfound appreciation for him. I definitely prefer him over the regular Wakan Tanka.

Hombre Tigre

Okay, so due to a lot of things transpiring IRL, mainly related to my move to Canada, I haven't really been able to post the rest of my Housamotober entries... So y'all can expect them to drop in en masse at this point 😅

So anyway, this is my entry for day 13. Hombre Tigre was one of my first units in the game, and I'm very happy for how his Virtual Summer Memories special quest turned out. My favorite out of all five from that set, if I have to be perfectly honest. 🥰

Kurogane

I remember when the first GoGo! Island Adventure event quest came out in English and Kurogane was one of the featured characters on the banner. I actually felt rather attracted to him, though that attraction was admittedly rather short-lived. Still, he's the only character amongst the Crafters that interested me, so I figured may as well. 

Fenrir

The Beast Tamers guild doesn't really interest me all that much, but I figured the most comfortable I could draw from the guild would be Fenrir.

Those ropes were a little iffy to draw, though. I don't think I would have been super keen to work on them if I was still working on a traditional medium. 😅

Arc

There ain't no way... No way I wasn't going to do Arc for Genociders day. You can't expect me not to do anything involving them after all the art I've been making of them for the nine months. God, they deserve so many good things in life. I can't wait to see more of them in their date quest and in the main quests. 😩

I think I'll be sticking from this style of artwork for the rest of Housamotober. Really takes me back to my roots, though I would have preferred to do things more in color. It also feels like I can me much less reliant on Easy Pose just to draw characters in certain ways, and it's honestly rather liberating. 😌

Ose

Despite him being my subject for day 9, I actually finished him later than my entry for day 10... 😆 Well, at least now my entry for the Agents guild is finally out of the way 😏

Marchosias

Oh god, I'm starting to lag behind... 😨 Hopefully not for long. 😏

For day 8, we have Marchosias and his kid 🥰 I feel like I made him a little bit thinner than usual, though.

Duo

It's Wisemen for day 7, and I decided to go for Duo. There aren't many people in the guild, and I don't really have much of an interest in this guild... So I just went for the easiest one to sketch. 😋

Melusine

I have Melusine for day 6 🥰 And I'm looking forward to making more art of this dragon maid in the future... 

Jacob

Jacob for day 5 😄 I decided I'd veer off the style I've been working with for the last few days and go for a more free sketch style for this art piece.

Pollux

Today I do Pollux for day 4 because I know everyone is going for basic bitch Horkeu, and I grew to like him during the Ikebukuro Christmas event. 😋

Shiro

For the Summoners, I decided to go basic and paint Shiro today. 😊 Thankfully it did not consume so much time but I think it's mostly because his outfit is mostly one color...

Lil' Salomon

We got Lil' Salomon for Housamotober Day 2! Wanted to get him out of the way as soon as possible, so I changed art styles this time...

Housamotober 2023

Ladies and gentlemen. It is once again that time of the year where we undertake art challenges on this website. And this year I'll be joining a few friends on the Housamotober Art Challenge 2023!

So as you can see, these are the themes per day. I'll be posting all my entries under the Housamotober 2023 tag on the website!

And so to start off, I've made this quick painting of the second protagonist:

Last year I successfully completed the art challenge... And this year, I strive to do so again. Here's to a fruitful and productive Housamotober! 🥂

Eboxygen and Monkshood

So this was a double commission I had been working on for the last couple of days for Eboxygen and Monkshood! They asked me if I could make their characters and I was more than willing to accept. And these are what they look like!

Thank you both again for the commission! It was a pleasure to work with you both! 💕

Self-Portrait 2023

Back on September 5, 2023, my website celebrated a whopping 8 years of existence. That's nearly a whole decade of arting, albeit on and off at the start and somewhere in the middle. My site continues to stand today, more vibrant than it was several years ago. It serves as my personal art journal in my ever-continuous journey of self-discovery.

To commemorate this yearly milestone, I decided now would be a good time as any to redo my self-portrait, featuring techniques I have learned and accumulated over the past year. I envisioned this to have my avatar originally being reflected off the surface of some crystal, but the art piece started taking a little more time than I felt comfortable with. That said, I settled for a basic rectangular background with the inside showing some indication of cracks and other light particles reflecting off of it. I'm quite proud and satisfied with this simple result. 😊

Here's to another year of Crossover. 🎉 Another year of arting, another year of continuously honing my skills and techniques on the digital canvas... And another year of my reliable productivity guilt, which never ceases to haunt me and remind me to actually make more art during my free time instead of wasting it on other things. 😆

Cheers to the year ahead! 🧃

Request (依頼)

"Lady Otohime, may I ask for something?"

"Yes, Lord Yamasachihiko. How may I be of service?"

"Do you mind just... Staying with me for tonight? The futon's a bit small, but I think we'll manage..."

---

Goodness, this took longer than I thought. But after overcoming my temptations to do anything besides this painting, I'm finally finished! I was trying to apply more of my new techniques and getting over my ugly phase moments, and the latter was a bit more daunting this time around... The important thing though is I did it! 😄

Yamasachihiko and Otohime together is another one of those rare sightings around the fandom. And I, for one, love providing such rare content. Consider this my second Housamo OTP next to Arc/MC2. 😎

Luring Prey (獲物誘い)

"Interested in a taste, hm?"

---

Today, we have Q'ursha fan art 🥳 Boogeyman was in my queue, but I couldn't come up with any ideas for him, so I jumped right for Q'ursha instead.

There's very little fan art for Q'ursha out as of this writing. I would assume it's because of the scars and tattoos all over his body; I needed to make separate layers for all of them! I also wanted to show him without his hat on. Of course, it looked awkward starting out, but as it came together the look started to make more sense to me.

I hope he gets a summer variant, or at least a swimsuit variant, so I can attempt a full-body painting of him in the future. I wanna be able to see where the scars go on the rest of his body 👀

[Sunlit Sanctuary] Arc ([日溜りのサンクチュアリ] アルク)

"Why don't we rest here for a little while? The sunlight at this spot feels just right. Won't you come and... Sit here with me?"

---

Imagine making four of the same thing again, amirite? Can't be me... 😏

In all seriousness, this is a painting that I've been waiting months to make. I only waited for the summer to do this since it was only appropriate. I think the timing was impeccable too, since I've been slowly but surely developing the steak style for my painting.

I have long since wanted a summer variant for Arc, but I know it realistically won't happen no matter how much I hope for it. And so I've brought this to life. Let me have all the freedom to smoke this immense copium. 🚬

I did my best to give them a more androgynous look instead of one that leans toward looking either male or female this time. This was to make it look more like their official art. I also wanted to give them another swimwear variant, one that showed more skin, while keeping their biological gender ambiguous.

I am truthfully incredibly happy to see this painting come to completion. I definitely do feel like I've done Arc some justice here, giving them the summer variant they deserve when no one else would. 🌅

I look forward to painting more about them, and other characters, in this style in the future. It's so exciting to think of what I can accomplish, the things I can better portray with all the new techniques I've been learning! 🥰🤩

Professional Lover (プロ愛人)

"As a professional in the art of young love... Allow me to teach you all of its ways."

---

MacRoich's summer variant came home to me. ✨ I promised myself I'd paint him if I ever did. Looking back, I was rather unsatisfied with my last attempt at painting him, so I wanted to do better on this painting.

This certainly... Exceeded my expectations.

The whole process of this was me attempting what I call the steak style (look I dunno the official name so bear with me, m'kay). 🥩 This is an art style for characters that emphasize three main characteristics based on my own personal observations:

• Bold line art for the character's outline, which become mere wisps and light brushstrokes when enhancing corners and contours;
• The predominant use of shading with gray values instead of black line art when shaping muscles, coupled with an effective use of highlights; and,
• Vibrant colors, at least, in a daytime setting.

I have been taking pages out of a friend's art style and this Twitter artist in order to accomplish this. Coupled with what I already know, this painting became the result of that potluck of styles. I love how the character just properly pops up with the background.

Starting out though, I didn't intend to really attempt to learn it because the last time I tried, I was left feeling more disheartened than anything. Somewhere in the middle of this painting I decided to give it another shot. A lot of trial and error was involved, and the result was worth the struggle. 🥰

I'm genuinely looking forward to all the art pieces I can now make using all the knowledge I learned out of this one. ✨

Naka-Furano Summer (中富良野の夏)

"Lean back, my hero."

---

Oh, boy. The summer is here, friends. Bring on all the sunny, summery art. 🌅✨

This is a piece that's been long overdue for a friend of mine. This was meant to be his birthday present, but I decided I would start on it after I went to Hokkaido so I can find some inspiration for the background. I went to Naka-Furano, a town renowned for its flower fields every summer. While it was unfortunate that the flowers weren't in season just yet at the time... I managed to get a good enough feel of the area and took several nice photos I eventually used as reference.

Next up from here ought to be that Summer Arc variant, but I can still put it off for one more project, or two... The summer is still quite long, after all. We really ought to take our time and just take it easy. 😎

Arc's Wardrobe (Part 1)

"Can we go home yet?"

---

I heard some unscrupulous individuals were slandering my favorite enby for not being representative enough for the enby community... And one mentioned to me their lack of a colorful wardrobe. Neurons were activated, and thus this sketch sheet of them wearing different clothes came to be.

I have a bunch of other ideas for what possible outfits to give them, but I've decided to just post this for now, as I have another painting I simply must attend to, post-haste...

Sunset Kiss (夕暮れキス)

"Arc..."

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me... A little more."

---

The fact that this took over two weeks to finish... 😩

This was delayed longer than it was intended, mainly from me backtracking on the painting techniques I applied on both characters. I attempted to try a new style with this painting, but I found myself going back to my current style by the end of it. I'll reattempt the new style again in a future piece, though, after some practice. 😋